Installation Guide

Agent OS uses a two-step installation: first install the base system to your home directory, then compile it into individual projects.

1

Base installation

Run the base installation script to install Agent OS to your home directory:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/buildermethods/agent-os/main/scripts/base-install.sh | bash

This creates ~/agent-os with the default profile containing standards, workflows, agents, and installation scripts.

Updating? If you already have Agent OS installed, you'll be prompted with update options and the ability to create a backup. For more information on updating, see the updating guide.

Windows Users: The installation command requires a bash shell. We recommend using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which provides a full Linux environment on Windows. Alternatively, you can use Git Bash (included with Git for Windows) to run the installation command. Once installed, open your bash terminal and run the curl command above.

Customize your standards

Before installing Agent OS into your projects, take time to customize your coding standards. This is one of the most important steps—your standards define how agents understand and build your code.

Edit the files in ~/agent-os/profiles/default/standards/ to match your conventions, preferred frameworks, and architectural patterns. These standards will be compiled into every project using this profile.

Learn more about standards

2

Project installation

Navigate to your project:

cd /path/to/your/project

Install Agent OS:

~/agent-os/scripts/project-install.sh

The installer will use your defaults from ~/agent-os/config.yml or prompt you for:

• Which profile to use (default: default)
• Whether to enable multi-agent mode (for Claude Code)
• Whether to enable single-agent mode (for all other tools)

What gets installed

The project installation compiles from your base:

• standards from your chosen profile
• commands adapted for your selected modes
• agents and workflows configured for your project

This creates:

• agent-os/ folder with standards and commands
• .claude/ folder with agents and commands (only in multi-agent mode)

Configuration defaults

Set defaults in ~/agent-os/config.yml:

defaults:
  profile: default
  multi_agent_mode: true
  multi_agent_tool: claude-code
  single_agent_mode: false
  single_agent_tool: generic

Installation options

Override defaults using flags:

Example flag usage

Use a different profile:

~/agent-os/scripts/project-install.sh --profile nextjs

Enable multi-agent mode for Claude Code:

~/agent-os/scripts/project-install.sh --multi-agent-mode true

Enable both modes:

~/agent-os/scripts/project-install.sh --multi-agent-mode true --single-agent-mode true

Preview installation without running it:

~/agent-os/scripts/project-install.sh --dry-run